Latin American

There has long been an interest in Latin American numismatics among the New York numismatic community - Lyman Haines Low published an excellent study of a hoard of the copper coins of Morelos in the American Journal of Numismatics - but the first substantial addition to the Latin American cabinet was the purchase of the collection of Isaac J. Greenwood in 1911. In 1930s, extensive donations by Julius Guttag gave the Society a broad and very strong collection of Latin American coins. In 1967 Henry Grunthal arranged for the purchase of the Echenique Collection, a collection of the coins of Peru during the colonial period and after independence (including issues from the mint of Potosí, as well as Lima). Howard Herz donated extensive collections of Latin American coins, notably those of Peru and Uruguay, in the 1980s. In 1990 the generosity of Harry W. Bass, Jr. made it possible to acquire the Herz Paraguay collection, which gave the Society the world's best collection of Paraguayan coins. One of the few rarities lacking from the Paraguay collection was made up by the donation in 1994 of the 5 reales of 1873 in gold by R. Henry Norweb, sr. These acquisitions have made the ANS the pre-eminent place to study Latin American coins, which has borne fruit in the works of Robert I. Nesmith, Clyde Hubbard, and T. V. Buttrey, jr., among many others.

The total figure for the Latin American cabinet is approximately 20,000 pieces.